Automobile number-plate.



P. M. HOFFMAN. AUTMBILE NUMBER PLATE. APPLEUATIQN FILED JULY 24,1911` Patented Apr. 16, i912.

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ATOMOBILE NUMBER-PLATE.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Apr. 16, 1912.

Application led July 2,4, 1.911.` Serial No. 640,143.

To all 'whom it may concern.'

Be it known that I,` PETER M. HQFEMAN,

a citizen of the United States, residing at Chicago, in the county of Cook and State ofIllinois, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Automobile Number-Plates, of which the following is a speciiication.

My invention relates particularly to a number plate adapted for use on the front of an automobile.

It is common practice, in automobile construction, to locate the radiator in front of the engine, Where it forms virtually the front of the hood housing the engine. Such radiators are of calculated capacity corresponding with the size ot the engine; hence, it is important to preserve the conditions to which the radiator is adapted.

In most States the use of numbers of specified size is mandatory; Vand in many States number-plates are sup; lied to users by the State upon the issuanty ot' a State automobile license. Usually the rigid se curing of the number-plate to the machine is required by law; and, in the case of the front number-plate, practically the only space available is on the radiator. Heretofore, it has been common to employ imper forate sheet-metal plates of large size; and, where such plates are applied to radiators,

they, in many instances, cover twenty o1'i twenty-five per cent. of the radiator front. To suspend such plates from the axle is not only unsatisfactory to the user, but usually constitutes a failure to comply with the legal requirements. It is my object to provide a means of applying numbers to automobile radiatorsin a cheap and durable manner which obviates the objections noted; and, to this end, I have conceived the idea of employing a toraminous plate having an enamel coating ot one color and bearing the numbers and State abbreviation in enamel of another color, this pertorate number-plate being securely fastened directly to the radiator, preferably by means of sheathed bolts which pass through the mesh-openings of the radiator.

My invention is illustrated in its prethereto.

ferred embodiment in the accompanying drawings, in which- Figure 1 represents an elevational view of an automobile radiator having applied to its front surface a number-plate in accordance with my invention; Fig; 2, a broken section taken as indicated at line 2 of Fig. 1.

A'represents an automobile radiator; and B, my improved number-plate applied The mesh-openings, or air-passages, o the radiator are designated l; and the perforations of' the number-plate are designated 2. The plate preferably is securely fastened to the radiator by bolts 3, which pass through the plate and through openings 1 of the radiator. The'bolts are preferably sheathed in tubes 4 which extend through the passages 1 and are of suitable material to prevent injury to the radiator webs, which usually are of thin copper, or the like.

The late B is shown with the number 266 painted or formed in enamel on its foraminous body; also it is shown bearing the abbreviation Ill. for Illinois). Preferably, the numerals and letters are in black enamel, and the body of the plate is in White enamel.

Irtthe case of a given make of radiator, of4

large output, itis practicable to have the perforations 2 correspond in spacing with the spacing of the air-passages 1 of the radiator. For practical purposes, however, no attention need be paid to the registration of the openings; and, in this connection, it is noted that it is preferred to space the plate a shortdistance from the radiator, by means of washers 5, thus insuring the free circulation of air, regardless of Whether the air-passages of the plate register with the air-passages of the radiator. A further advantage of this arrangementis they elimination of any possibility of the numberplate rattling against the radiator, in case of looseness of fastening, or in case of employment of sheet-metal too light to withstand all vibration.

It need hardly be stated that the plate may be of any desired contour and its perforations of any desired shape. Experiment has shown the durability and practicability of the improved plate, and demonstrated that such va plate may be employed in' close association with the front surface of the radiator without appreciably lessening the radiating power.

What I regard as new, `and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

The combination with an automobile radiator having a mesh-Work with air passages therethrough, of a. number plate secured to the fro'nt face of the radiator in Yspaced relation thereto, said number plate being provided with openings therethrough adapt' ed to aline with the air passages in the radiator whereby cooling of the radiator will' not be a'ected by thev number plate.

PETER M. HOFFMAN. In presence of R. A. RAYMOND, O. C. AvIsUs;

(logies o! this patent may y'De obtained for ive eents each, by addressing 4the Commissioner of Patents.

- Washington, I). C. 

